Final season of ‘Damages’ bows July 11

Big ensemble to appear in series' swan song

The fifth and final season of “Damages” on DirecTV’s Audience Network will premiere July 11.

Ryan Phillippe, Janet McTeer, John Hannah, Judd Hirsch, M. Emmett Walsh, Victor Garber, William Sadler, Gbenga Akinnagbe and Jenna Elfman will be among the recurring cast members on the series that stars Glenn Close and Rose Byrne.

The series, which netted four Emmy awards and 19 nominations over its first four years, including back-to-back lead actress kudos for Close in 2008 and 2009, migrated from original home FX to DirecTV in July 2010, on a deal for two seasons of 10 episodes each. Close and Byrne signed six-year deals before the show premiered, but the final year will be dropped.

For a brief period, DirecTV looked to be a rescue home for struggling series, having also worked out a unique arrangement with NBC to keep “Friday Night Lights” alive, but the satcaster’s focus for its Audience Network shifted to developing original content to compliment reruns of series no longer in production, such as “The Wire.”